buckets.One was a shiny and new bucket.The other was a very old and dilapidated one, which had seen
many years of service, but was now past its best.
Every morning, the gardener would fill up the two buckets.Then he would carry them along the path,
one on each side, to the flowerbeds.The new bucket was very proud of itself.It could carry a full bucket of water without a single drop spilled (溢出).The old bucket felt very ashamed because of its holes: before
it reached the flowerbeds, much water had leaked along the path.
Sometimes the new bucket would say, "See how capable I am! How good it is that the gardener has
me to water the flowers every day! I don"t know why he still bothers with you.What a waste of space you are!"
And all that the old bucket could say was, "I know I"m not very useful, but I can only do my best.I"m
happy that the gardener still finds a little bit of use in me, at least."
One day, the gardener heard that kind of conversation.After watering the flowers as usual, he said,
"You both have done your work very well.Now I am going to carry you back.I want you to look carefully along the path."
Then the two buckets did so.All along the path, they noticed, on the side where the new bucket was
carried, there was just bare (光秃秃的) earth; on the other side where the old bucket was carried, there was a joyous row of wild flowers, leading all the way to the garden.
A. Dirty.
B. Dark.
C. Worn-out.
D. Plain-looking.
2. What was the old bucket ashamed of?
A. His past.
B. His aging.
C. His manner.
D. His leaking.
3. The new bucket made conversations with the old one mainly to ________.
A. laugh at the old one
B. take pity on the old one
C. show off its beautiful looks
D. praise the gardener"s kindness
4. Why was the old bucket still kept by the gardener?
A. Because it was used to keep a balance.
B. Because it stayed in its best condition.
C. Because it was taken as a treasure.
D. Because it had its own function.
Walking over to the offender, I asked for the __1__. Frozen, she refused to give it to me.I waited,
all attention in the classroom on the quiet __2__ between the teacher and the student. When she finally
__3__ it over she whispered, "Okay, but I didn"t draw it."
It was a handdrawn __4__ of me, teeth blackened and the words "I"m stupid" coming out of my
mouth.
I managed to fold it up calmly. My mind, __5__, was working angrily as I struggled not to
__6__.I knew the two most likely candidates for drawing the picture. It would do them some __7__
to teach them a lesson, and maybe it was high time that I did it!
Thankfully, I was able to keep myself __8__.
When there were about six minutes remaining, I showed the class the picture. They were all silent as
I told them how __9__ this was for me.I told them there must be a reason __10__ and now was their
chance to write down anything they needed to tell me. Then I let them write silently while I sniffed in the
back of the classroom.
As I __11__ the notes later, many of them said something like, "I"ve got nothing against you, " or "I"m
sorry you were hurt." Some kids said, "We"re __12__ of you." But two notes, from the girls who I
__13__ were behind the picture, had a list of issues. I was too __14__, too strict...
Reading those notes, I realized that over the course of this year, instead of __15__ my students, I had
begun commanding them to __16__.Where I thought I was driving them to success I was __17__ driving
them away.
I had some apologizing to do. But the next day in the classroom, one boy and one girl each handed
me a card. The one __18__ by all the boys expressed sincere regret for the ugly joke. The one from the
girls asked for __19__.
This was a lesson for both the kids and me. Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge
the __20__.
( )1. A. note ( )2. A. battle ( )3. A. took ( )4. A. statue ( )5. A. otherwise ( )6. A. leave ( )7. A. good ( )8. A. amused ( )9. A. meaningful ( )10. A. aside ( )11. A. wrote ( )12. A. proud ( )13. A. figured ( )14. A. talkative ( )15. A. forcing ( )16. A. appreciate ( )17. A. actually ( )18. A. decorated ( )19. A. thankfulness ( )20. A. friendship | B. advice B. competition B. thought B. graph B. however B. cry B. harm B. controlled B. forgetful B. above B. finished B. fond B. promised B. mean B. encouraging B. apologize B. normally B. offered B. forgiveness B. education | C. reason C. argument C. turned C. picture C. therefore C. explain C. favor C. uninterested C. regretful C. beneath C. read C. afraid C. concluded C. clumsy C. comforting C. compromise C. immediately C. signed C. compensation C. knowledge | D. help D. conversation D. handed D. poster D. besides D. argue D. punishment D. relaxed D. hurtful D. behind D. collected D. ashamed D. confirmed D. considerate D. teaching D. achieve D. generally D. bought D. communication D. future |
阅读理解 | |||
Sixteen years ago, Eileen Doyle"s husband, an engineer, took his four children up for an early morning cup of tea, packed a small case and was never seen or heard of again.Eileen was astonished and in a state of despair.They had been a happy family and, as far as she knew, there had been nothing wrong with their marriage. Every day of the year a small group of men and women quietly pack a few belongings and without so much as a note or a goodbye close the front door for the last time, leaving their debts, their worries and their confused families behind them.Last year, more than 1,200 men and nearly as many women were reported missing from home-the highest in 15 years.Many did return home within a year, but others rejected the past completely and are now living a new life somewhere under a different identity. To those left behind, this form of desertion (遗弃) is a terrible blow to their pride and selfconfidence. Even the finality of death might be preferable.At least it does not imply rejection or failure.Worse than that, people can be left with an unfinished marriage, not knowing whether they will have to wait several years before they are free to start a fresh life. Clinical psychologist Paul Brown believes most departures of this kind to be well planned rather than impulsive."It"s typical of the kind of personality which seems able to ignore other people"s pain and difficulties.Running away, like killing yourself, is a highly aggressive act.By creating an absence the people left behind feel guilty, upset and empty." 1. When her husband left home, Eileen Doyle ________. A. could not forgive him for taking the children B. had been expecting it to happen for some time C. could not understand why D. blamed herself for what had happened 2. Most people who leave their families behind them ________. A. do so without warning B. do so because of their debts C. come back immediately D. change their names 3. Which might be the title of the passage? A. Broken marriage B. New life after desertion C. A new social problem D. Desertion and its influence 4. What can be inferred from the passage? A. Many people choose to leave home quietly because they hate their family. B. Paul Brown regards leaving home as an act of selfishness. C. Those who are left behind will lose confidence and won"t marry again. D. Eileen"s husband, together with his four kids, was probably killed in an accident. | |||
完形填空 | |||
Spend a pound to win a penny Some people were steaming peas under a tree in order to make a meal for their horses. Up in the branches sat a monkey,__1__what they were doing. "Aha" thought the monkey. "I spot my 2_ !" So when the men had finished steaming the peas and __3__ for a moment to look after the horses,__4__,the monkey let himself down from the tree. He snatched (抓) the peas and filled his__5__and both hands as full as they could__6__. Then he climbed up the tree and sat there, eating happily. Suddenly one pea fell. "Oh dear! Oh my pea!" cried the monkey. The other peas__7__to drop out of his mouth. He__8__his hands in despair(绝望地), and the peas fell out of his hands too, but he took on__9__. All he thought of was that one pea was gone,__10__ he climbed down the trunk to hunt for his lost pea on the ground. At this time, the men came back. When they saw a monkey__11__with their pots, they all__12__their arms and shouted, "Shoo! Shoo!" Then they picked up stones and began to __13__the monkey with them. The monkey was so__14__that he gave one jump to the nearest__15__ , and swung himself up to the top of the tree. "After all," said he to himself, "it was__16__ one pea." But he ought to have thought of that __17__, for now all the other peas had gone too. That day the monkey had to content himself with the__18__ of boiled peas for dinner, and I hope the __19__ taught him not to be so__20__in future. | |||
( )1. A. watching ( )2. A. shelter ( )3. A. turned up ( )4. A. easily ( )5. A. bowl ( )6. A. receive ( )7. A. seemed ( )8. A. crossed ( )9. A. interest ( )10. A. so ( )11. A. helping ( )12. A. carried ( )13. A. attack ( )14. A puzzled ( )15. A. branch ( )16. A. still ( )17. A. earlier ( )18. A. image ( )19. A. trick ( )20. A. curious | B. enjoying B. neighbors B. turned away B. gently B. pocket B. hold B. began B. hid B. time B. because B. playing B. broke B. separate B. disappointed B. stone B. even B. sooner B. smell B. disaster B. ambitious | C. describing C. dinner C. gave up C. safely C. mouth C. support C. hurried C. touched C. notice C. although C. mixing C. waved C. destroy C. terrified C. pea C. only C. longer C. dream C. loss C. proud | D. guessing D. friends D. gave away D. confidently D. bag D. put D. failed D. squeezed D. sign D. if D. dealing D. bent D. bother D. annoyed D. horse D. almost D. later D. taste D. process D. greedy |
完形填空 | |||
One cold rainy evening last October, as a medical student, I was in a hospital, gathering data for my graduation paper. Holding a patient questionnaire 1 some simple yes-or-no questions, I walked towards a 43-year-old patient who lay in bed alone. I was worried whether she would approve of my demands at such a late hour. _2_ , she treated it with consideration. Soon I finished and prepared to leave. _ 3 I could stand up, she spoke up in a weak voice asking where I was from and why I was working so late in the evening. Then she started talking about herself as well as her 4_ , "My husband died about a year ago, _5 me the only breadwinner of my family. My pay as a cleaner is 6 enough for me and my three kids. I don"t know what my children would be if something bad happened to me." I didn"t know what to say. I desperately tried to remember the lessons from a communication skills class I had taken years earlier, but my mind was__7__. Without realizing it, I had begun__8_her hand. Now that I didn"t have anything to say, I just sat quietly while she talked. That"s when it occurred to me that she was not expecting any __9__from me. She 10 wanted me to listen. All 1 did was nod my head as a way of showing my_ 11_. The conversation went on for about 20 minutes. Finally, she stopped talking. "I"m very sorry for keeping you here to listen to my problems, but I feel 12 now. I had no one to 13 out my problems to. Thank you so much, doctor." Sometimes patients do not need expensive medicine or advanced technology. 14 , they just need someone with the 15 to lend an ear and spare a little of their time. For me, that is one of the best things a doctor can do for a patient, doesn"t it? | |||
( )1. A. made up of ( )2. A. Calmly ( )3. A. When ( )4. A. job ( )5. A. causing ( )6. A. extremely ( )7. A. casual ( )8. A. holding ( )9. A. thanks ( )10. A. even ( )11. A. sympathy ( )12. A. relaxed ( )13. A. leave ( )14. A. However ( )15. A. emotion | B. fed up with B. Excitedly B. Before B. illness B. getting B. exactly B. clear B. shaking B. praise B. ever B. support B. awkward B. pour B. Otherwise B. patience | C. put up with C. Gladly C. As C. family C. forcing C. especially C. steady C. carrying C. warmth C. just C. sorrow C. fragile C. try C. Instead C. experience | D. come up with D. Eagerly D. After D. children D. leaving D. absolutely D. blank D. treating D. reply D. still D. respect D. satisfied D. find D. Besides D. preference |
阅读理解 | |||
Once upon a time there was a painter who had just finished his course from a great painter. He wanted to assess his skills, so he decided to display one of his best works on a busy street. |